1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a ridge tillage attachment for planters and the like and more particularly to an attachment which has a compact construction and which is readily attached to row planter frame structures or the like of various configurations while providing very firm, reliable and secure support of tool units carried thereby. The attachment is readily connected to and detached from the frame structure and is relatively simple in construction and economically manufacturable.
2. Background of the prior art
The Smit et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,323 discloses a ridge tillage attachment for conventional rowcrop planters, having a number of highly desirable features. The attachment includes a generally horizontal support beam having a rearward end connected through a parallelogram linkage support system to a pair of support members which may extend downwardly from a structural member of a support vehicle, such as a conventional planter tool bar. The forward end of the beam is connected to ground-engaging wheels which control the vertical position of the tool unit and which provide a guiding function, being so supported as to engage opposite sides of a ridge to be tilled in preparation for the planting of seeds in the crest of the ridges.
As disclosed in the Smit et al. patent, the forward end of the beam is connected to the wheels through an adjustable attachment which includes an inner casing member connected to the wheels and arranged for vertical telescopic movement within an outer casing an adjustment screw arrangement being provided for adjusting the relative vertical positions of the casings. To resiliently urge the tool and wheel means downwardly relative to the frame structure, a coiled compression spring is provided which surrounds a guide rod which extends between an intermediate portion of the beam and a mid-point of a transverse member which is secured between upper end portions of the vertically extending frame members. The axis of the spring is substantially vertical and is aligned with a point between cutting discs or rolling coulters which are operative to cut through debris in the center of the ridge. Thus the force of the spring is applied directly over such coulters. Nuts are threaded on the rod for adjustment of the pressure exerted by the spring.